Alan Watts

[caelanb]

Hello, I was just browsing YouTube when I fell upon Alan Watts lectures. He explains religions very well, so that they make sense and I can understand them, along with debunks science and common paradigms (including mine). I was wondering if anyone else likes him or thinks that he is a good interpreter of religions such as Buddhism. One other bonus is that there are tons of audio recordings on YouTube about Alan Watts. Thank you.

[lmfao]

@caelanb finally an Alan Watts appreciation thread. Yeah the dude is my favourite Non-duality teacher. He's extremely good at explaining the essence of a teaching. There are millions of things I've heard from him that are just amazing. My signature on this forum is based upon Alan Watts quoting something he read

Edited November 18, 2018 by lmfao
Your mom gay

[Jack River]

Watts was a most excellent dude. I’m not sure how correct his interpretation was of Buddhism, but beyond that It doesn’t matter. He was very very wise and had an outstanding intellectual capacity too. A double whammy ?

Edited November 18, 2018 by Jack River

[FoxFoxFox]

@caelanb

Don't get me wrong, Alan Watts was without a shadow of a doubt an enlightened master, but, as he said himself, he loved to philosophize, and philosophy is not what enlightenment is about. Just be mindful of that.

[VioletFlame]

YES ?

Edited November 18, 2018 by VioletFlame

[caelanb]

Wow thanks guys, so I guess he’s quite a respectable teacher. @Jack River Your not sure how correct his interpretations of Buddhism are? They seem very accurate to what I know about it, though I’m not the most knowledgeable in that field so I can’t tell what is truly correct or not. Thanks @FoxFoxFox, I see your point about not trying to philosophies to much about enlightenment. I’m curious how long he spent studying different religions as well as enlightenment.

Edited November 18, 2018 by caelanb

[FoxFoxFox]

@caelanb

Yes. The depth and breadth of his knowledge was phenomenal. I must have read his book "The Way of Zen" at least 10 times. 

[Jack River]

1 hour ago, caelanb said:

Your not sure how correct his interpretations of Buddhism are? They seem very accurate to what I know about it, though I’m not the most knowledgeable in that field so I can’t tell what is truly correct or not.

To me Allan watts talks are much more valuable than leaning about Buddhism. 

He talks about Taoism which I think was early Buddhism too. He talks about key points that get to the essence of libertarion. He gets into how the self tries to use effort/control to end itself too. That’s really important.

He also goes into other awsome things. Most definitely worth listening too. Not just helpful but fun to listent to him as well. ?

Edited November 18, 2018 by Jack River

[FoxFoxFox]

1 hour ago, Luka Tepic said:

@FoxFoxFox  i love alan watts but i dont think he was an enlightened master. He was an amazing philospopher but he also struggled with alcoholism and depression therefore i think he didn’t really reach enlightenment although he understood many aspects of the field.

While rare, you can be simultaneously depressed and still enlightened. People don't want to believe this, but you can be the worst person in the earth and be enlightened. You can be depressed, suicidal, alcoholic, or a drug addict, and be enlightened. 

All of those things exist within the Self. The Self is independent of those things. 

[Luka Tepic]

@FoxFoxFox  I agree but I don’t know if i would consider this enlightenment. Because simply understanding the illusions of our experience doesn’t get you enlightened. For example i do understand the nature of reality to a quite good degree but i would in no way consider myself enlightened because there are still some sticking points where i am stuck and are perventing me to fully embody nonduality. Enlightenment in my opinion is a complete transformation of your self and your experience.

[Emanyalpsid]

6 hours ago, Jack River said:

Watts was a most excellent dude. I’m not sure how correct his interpretation was of Buddhism, but beyond that It doesn’t matter. He was very very wise and had an outstanding intellectual capacity too. A double whammy ?

What I heard seems correct, although I doubt that he got to the end of it. As I haven't heard him talk about the dependent nature of reality, only about the self. So he definitely transcended the self but I don't know if he transcended reality. 

But he was more a philosophy entertainer and engaged in multiple philosophies.

[Emanyalpsid]

1 hour ago, Luka Tepic said:

@FoxFoxFox  I agree but I don’t know if i would consider this enlightenment. Because simply understanding the illusions of our experience doesn’t get you enlightened. For example i do understand the nature of reality to a quite good degree but i would in no way consider myself enlightened because there are still some sticking points where i am stuck and are perventing me to fully embody nonduality. Enlightenment in my opinion is a complete transformation of your self and your experience.

Maybe you like to read this website. It explains everything in detail. When you reflect upon what you read the transformation of your self and your experience will come.http://www.foundationsofhumanlife.com

Edited November 18, 2018 by Emanyalpsid

[Luka Tepic]

@Emanyalpsid great website!! And yeah i onow but it is still a long way to go haha.

[Jack River]

3 hours ago, Emanyalpsid said:

What I heard seems correct, although I doubt that he got to the end of it.

There is no end..once you get to what is considered to be the end, negate that too. 

Then we see there was never even a beginning. 

The truth is we are blind?

[Flammable]

Alan Watts is bae. Hence, the signature below.

[FoxFoxFox]

On 11/18/2018 at 1:26 PM, Luka Tepic said:

@FoxFoxFox  I agree but I don’t know if i would consider this enlightenment. Because simply understanding the illusions of our experience doesn’t get you enlightened. For example i do understand the nature of reality to a quite good degree but i would in no way consider myself enlightened because there are still some sticking points where i am stuck and are perventing me to fully embody nonduality. Enlightenment in my opinion is a complete transformation of your self and your experience.

@Luka Tepic

I contemplated on this for a bit and have something to share:

Let's assume for the sake of this discussion that it is in fact correct to talk about an enlightened being. Normally, this is not correct because there is nothing BUT the enlightened self. It is not correct to talk about someone or something that is enlightened because that assumes there is a duality between the enlightens Self and other things that are not enlightened. But nevertheless let's assume that we can. Let's also call this enlightened being by the Sanskrit term Jnani.

The Jnani, having realized the truth of the Self, realizes that they are not the body. For them, there is no distinction between the different appearances within the self. For the Jnani there is no separation between the doer, the doing and the done. The Jnani understands that the Self alone is responsible for its own actions. The body being the Self, also functions independent of the "I" and therefore is only beholden to the undefinable will of the Self.

Therefore we can say that Alan Watts was a Jnani because he was an alcoholic and depressed. He realized that these were the simply Karma, and thus mere appearances within the Self. Therefore he went with it. He did not assume an illusory responsibility for the wellbeing of the body, and so did not act to heal it, because he was liberated 

[luckieluuke]

Theres an amazing game inspired by Alan Watts. It´s awesome!
http://www.everything-game.com/

[Hellspeed]

He is very good at explaining the basic, better than most philosophers and spiritual teachers today.  

[Luka Tepic]

@FoxFoxFox well i mean i know where you are coming from but i think you arent taking into account that for depression to exist there must be a self to identify with it. But this can still be debated since depression is an abstract word which can point at slightly different direction and so is the world enlightenment. 

What i am trying to say is that enlightenment is freeing yourself from the suffering and depression is in my opinion particularly that.  - suffering- or in other words not accepting your experience. 

[outlandish]

Alan Watts is great, his lectures are fantastic. Personally speaking, listening to his lectures has really ... I don't even know what words to use here.. his words have nudged me in the right direction. He's one of these rare teachers who is able to lift the curtain just a little bit, and begin to communicate the ineffable.

On 11/19/2018 at 3:33 AM, luckieluuke said:

Theres an amazing game inspired by Alan Watts. It´s awesome!
http://www.everything-game.com/

Yes @luckieluuke! I've played that game and love it! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) my video card can't really handle games, so I haven't been able to really play it much, but it's such a neat game, totally different from almost anything out there. Tier 2 gaming lol!